Shanghai JZ Club
An interview with 喜辰晨（Voision Xi）

Let’s start with a short description of JZ Club…
JZ was established in 2004 and relocated two times, one in 2005 and then in 2016. Live performances are the core of the club, which is a gathering of musicians and fans, and it is very representative of Chinese jazz; since it was opened the club hosts performances every night, more and more musicians from different regions and international musicians come to perform and learn from each other by exchanging views. Among the audience, there are enthusiastic fans, and a lot of people come here out of admiration for our club. All kinds of people who are passionate about music like to come to JZ to enjoy music life.

 

When did you start working at JZ Club?
I joined the JZ Family in 2011; I usually go to the club 4 times a week, and I am responsible for official documents and correspondence, photography, the design of posters and managing the new area of microblogging.

 

How did you end working for JZ Club?
In October 2010 I attended the JZ Festival at the Century Park as a fan. I liked jazz music and I also liked photography, so after the festival I took part in an official online photo contest and got the second prize; at that time, I was attending the fourth year at University and I had to look for Internship opportunities, so after I won the prize I directly became an intern; I’m very lucky because I do my favorite job, and I can say it was JZ that chose me.

 

Which is your favorite performance you organized at JZ club?
There are many nice performances I remember, but I’d say Rosenwinkel with Caipi ensemble.

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Which is the most difficult problem in organizing a jazz event in China?
Sometimes we felt disappointed because there was not enough audience as we expected, but what made us feel more helpless is that sometimes we had to deal with unprofessional officials or collaborators that have different concepts or philosophies of a festival, this has created the most challenging man-made problem for a good performance.

 

Do you think jazz is becoming more and more popular in Asia? And in China?
I can’t say it’s becoming popular in Asia, though jazz will always be the foundation of the modern music, more and more people start learning and listening to these fundamental things, and fortunately some of them have the ability to innovate with jazz music. In Asia, some areas do have a lot of jazz fans and musicians, some areas only have a few, but I’ll say there’s probably a trend of getting popular in the younger generation.

 

Do you think you will be involved in the jazz industry for a long time? If so, what is your dream?
I will. I hope I will be able to help young and capable musicians with good ideas to produce beautiful works, to do interesting and meaningful things with colleagues that respect music, in order to spread the jazz energy in a proper way. In the meantime, I also wish to become a qualified jazz singer.